And So He Ran.

PROLOGUE

She stepped closer.

"It was you, was it not?" She held the journal in her hands, worn out from old age, as the river flowed from her eyes. It was you. The words echoed through my head, bleeding the shame in my existence. It was me, who hid from her eyes, a character in her story she thought was hers to love. And I left her heartbroken as I moved my way out. Over. And over again.

Gently I caress her face. Each wave of pain, rumbling in each crack and gladness filling the hole in my abyss, the heart of stone. The tunnels vibrate with every beat of our hearts in harmony.

You lied, she scoffed.

You left! And you lied! She yelled, suppressing her sobs of anguish and pain.

"Are there any more façades you would like to come clean?" She asked, pleading with her eyes that burned innocent hearts into ashes forgotten, swept by the winds.

Anger fueled her into a life of lies and deceit. And I left her with exact same hatred crawling in her veins. Innocent as I may be, I was a part of it all. She was wrapped in the hands of another man, growing in darkness and scarlet. And to her, I was a light that glowed brightly at a distant watch.

She tilted her head to the tunnels where the maps reside in artistic element and precision. Why me? The question itself hangs in the air with silence, Why me? She asks again. And this time, I did not dare look into her emerald eyes.

"You took my heart, Elane. Sliced me open under the shining stars, as you offered it to a monster." With that, her eyes widened as the skies up above. And what hurts the most is that she knows what she has done.

It was our wedding, the 6th of January, the year 1981, as you betrayed me on the exact day. You vowed to love, to cherish! To share in every difficulty. Then you left me for dead.